Press

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a press for use in forming tubing by piercing a billet and then shearing a portion from the end of the pierced hole.

[451 Feb. 26, 1974 United States Patent [191 Allen 2,679,931 6/1954 Cigliano................................72/267 PRESS [75] inventor: Herbert Allen, Houston, Tex.

a n l S, k r. m 2 m r 9 1T1 n n no mm r ao CHM a e n .m d S e s H A F M H 2 [21] Appl. No.: 239,207

e bh gt .mm .00 r mf n m m i r mo D. a .m T mm C m A R o 5 T S xw. B mh A P d b a m S mmm .m da .w nf wm w .mwm TD-B 70 3 mm 23 C 2 5233 SB 900 u .m 2 7 m ""7 n6 2 d H", 9 5 h "5 2 C n/ s 2 8 ml M N e "u r. n & mm e um" R Hue "ms I l C .M .m UMF H M U 555 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,142,703 Sparks 72/255 6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PRESS This invention relates generally to presses; and, more particularly, to improvements in presses for use in blocking and piercing billets.

It has heretofore been the practice to form tubing by installing a'billet within a pot or can supported on one platen of a first press, where it is sequentially blocked and pierced to a substantial depth, and then removing the pierced billet from the can of the first press and installing it within the can of the second press, where the portion of the billet at the end of the pierced hole is sheared off by a suitable die. This not only requires two presses, but also necessitates a great deal of handling between presses, which ties up the manipulator for installing and removing the billet. Still further, it consumes valuable time, which may require forging operations to be carried out over an undesirably wide range of temperatures, and, in extreme cases, reheating of the billet.

Krause US. Pat. No. 2,732,738 shows a single press having a can in which the billet may be pierced and the portion thereof at the lower end of its pierced hole sheared, so that manipulation from one press to another is avoided. Thus, as shown therein, the base or bottom of the pot comprises a back-up plunger which is aligned with the punch and a removable plug or seat means surrounds the plunger. During piercing of the billet, the plunger is supported on a level with the plug. However, when the billet has been pierced to a predetermined extent, the plunger is lowered so that the punch may move further into the can and through the opening in the plug to shear the portion of the billet between it and the punch.

An object of this invention is to provide a press of this latter type which is of simpler and less expensive construction.

Another object is to provide a press of this type in which a power mechanism for moving the can between positions for facilitating blocking, installation and removal of the billet is also useful in performing the shearing operation.

These and other objects are accomplished, in accordance with the illustrated embodiments of the present invention, by a press in which the base of the pot or can includes, as in the Krause US. Pat. No. 2,732,738, a plunger aligned with the piercing punch and a plug surrounding the plunger. However, as distinguished from Krause U.S. Pat. No. 2,732,738, the plug is movable with respect to the plunger in a direction toward the open end of the pot, so that it is possible to shear the portion of the pierced billet held between the punch and the plunger without further movement of the piercing punch and thus with less stroke than is required by Krause.

Preferably, the pot of each embodiment of the press includes an open-ended annular body which is supported on and reciprocable with respect to one platen between an extended position for surrounding the billet and a retracted position to facilitate installation and removal of the billet. The body of the pot is selectively reciprocated between extended and retracted positions by means of a plurality of piston-type actuators arranged about the pot and connected between the one platen and the pot.

In one embodiment of the invention, the actuators are adapted to selectively move the pot body to a further extended position, and the pot body is adapted to lift the plug with it as it is so moved, whereby the actuators perform a second function. In another embodiment of the invention, an annular cylinder is formed about the plunger, and the plug is lifted with respect to the plunger by means of an annular piston connected to it and sealably slidable within the cylinder.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters are used throughout to designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a press constructed in accordance with the first described embodiment of the invention, and with the body of the pot in retracted position to facilitate installation of a billet;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but on an enlarged scale, and showing the body of the pot raised to an extended position for surrounding the billet;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but upon lowering of a blocking punch mounted on the upper platen into the pot body for blocking the billet;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but upon raising of the upper platen and mounting of a piercing punch thereon in place of the blocking punch;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but upon lowering of the piercing punch to form a hole in the billet;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but upon full extension of the actuators to lift the plug to a further extended position to shear a portion from the lower end of the pierced hole in the billet;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of a press constructed in accordance with the second de scribed embodiment of the invention, and with the billet blocked and a punch mounted on the upper platen prior to lowering into the extended body of the pot;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but upon lowering of the piercing punch to form a hole in the billet; and

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, but upon lifting of the plug to shear a portion of the billet between the lower end of the punch and upper end of the plunger.

With reference now to the details of the abovedescribed drawings, the press constructed in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention, and shown in its entirety in FIG. 1, comprises a frame 21 having uprights 21A connected to the upper and lower ends 21B and 21C, respectively, of the frame so as to form a loop. An upper fixed platen 22 is supported by the frame beneath its upper end 21B, a lower fixed platen 23 is supported by the frame above its lower end 21C, and an intermediate movable platen 24 is disposed between the fixed platens for movement vertically with respect thereto.

The movable platen 24 is forced downwardly toward the lower fixed platen 23 by means of a hydraulic ram assembly disposed between the movable platen and the upper fixed platen. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, there are a plurality of hydraulic piston-type actuators 25 connected at one end to the upper fixed platen and at the other end to the movable'platen. Extension of the actuators will move the movable platen 24 downwardly and thus toward a workpiece supported on the lower fixed platen 23 and retraction of the pistons will raise the movable platen 24 to an upper position, as shown in FIG. 1, to permit the workpiece to be installed and removed from supported position on the lower fixed platen. The movable platen is quided during vertical movement by means of rods 26.

The press also includes a pot 27 supported on the lower fixed platen 23 and a means 28 on the lower side of the movable platen 24 beneath platen 23 for interchangeably mounting suitable punches for performing useful work on a billet 29 received by the pot. As best shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, the pot includes an annular body 30 which is open at each end and supported on the fixed platen 23 for reciprocation between a lower retracted position, as shown in FIG. 1, an upper extended position, as shown in each of FIGS. 2 to 5, and a further extended position, as shown in FIG. 6. For this purpose, the body 30 is connected to a plurality of hydraulic piston-type actuators 31 arranged about the pot, with the piston of each such actuator mounted on the platen 23 and the cylinder thereof connected by an arm 31A to body 30. In the extended position of the pot body, the cylinders have not completed their upward travels relative to the pistons, so that they are free to travel further in order to lift the body to its further extended position.

The body of the pot is guidably slidable over a pedestal 32 supported on the fixed platen 23, and the pedastal in turn surrounds a plunger 33 supported on the fixed platen 23 and disposed coaxially of the body. A plug 34 surrounds plunger 33 and, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, is normally mounted on the upper end of the pedestal 32 with its upper face on the same horizontal level as the upper face of the plunger, whereby the plunger and plug form a flat base on which the billet 29 is supported.

In the retracted position of the pot body, as shown in FIG. 1, the base is on substantially the same level as the upper end of the body so that the billet 29 may be moved onto and off of the base with a minimum of manipulation. Also with the body 30 so lowered, the billet 29 may be upset to remove scale therefrom and the scale easily removed from about the billet. On the other hand, when the body 30 is raised to extended position, as shown in FIG. 2, it surrounds the billet 29, whereby the billet may be blocked and pierced in a manner to be described in connection with FIGS. 3 to 5.

As shown, the mounting means 28 includes a horizontally extending slot for slidably receiving the upper end of either a blocking punch 35 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) or a piercing punch 36 (see FIGS. 4 to 6). With the movable platen 24 raised to the position of FIGS. 1 and 2, the punches may be interchangeably mounted on the means 28 without interference with the pot or billet.

With the pot body 30 retracted, as shown in FIG. 1, the billet 29 may be upset and scale removed from about the base of the pot. At this time, the blocking punch 35 is mounted on the means'28, and the body 30 of the pot is raised to extended position, as shown in FIG. 2. The means 28 is so located as to axially align the punch 35 with the pot 27, so that upon lowering of the platen, the punch moves closely into the body 30 of the pot. As illustrated in FIG. 3, continued downward movement of the punch 35 into the body of the pot will deform the billet 29 radially outwardly so as to fill the space between the lower end of the punch and the base of the pot.

At this time, the platen 24 is raised to return the blocking punch 35 to the position of FIG. 2, and the blocking punch is removed from the mounting means 28 and replaced by the piercing punch 36. The piercing punch is axially aligned with the body 30 of the pot and thus with respect to the plunger 33 forming the central portion of the base of the pot. The lower end of the punch is somewhat enlarged and of substantially the same diameter as the upper end of the plunger. As illustrated by FIG. 5, the platen 24 is moved downwardly to cause the punch 36 to pierce the blocked billet received within the pot to desired depth, at which time downward movement of the platen 24 and thus the punch 36 is stopped, preferably in response to limit switches or the like.

In this embodiment of the invention, the plug is raised to the position of FIG. 6, so as to shear the portion 37A of the pierced billet between the lower end of the punch 36 and the upper end of the plunger, in response to lifting of the body 30 of the pot from its extended to its fully extended position. For this purpose, the plug has an outer flange 38 extending across the space between the pedestal 32 and inner diameter of the body 30, and the inner diameter of the body has a flange 39 extending inwardly across the same space and located just beneath the flange 38 in the extended position of the body. Consequently, in order to lift the plug to the position of FIG. 6, is is merely necessary to admit hydraulic pressure to the upper sides of the pistons of the actuators 31 so as to fully extend them. The actuators may be operated for this purpose in response to the same or related limit switches for predetermining downward travel of the piercing punch.

Upon completion of the shearing operation of FIG. 6, the actuators 31 may be operated to retract them to the position of FIG. 1. Upon retraction of the actuators, the plug is lowered to its position supported on the pedestal, and the body 30 is retracted to the position of FIG. 1, so that the fully pierced billet and the portion 37A removed therefrom may be removed from the base of the pot.

The press constructed in accordance with the second embodiment of the invention, and illustrated in part in FIGS. 7 to 9, is similar in a great number of respects to the press illustrated in connection with FIGS. 1 to 6. Thus, it also includes a pot 40 supported on a lower fixed platen 23, and a means 28 carried on the underside of a movable platen 24 for mounting different punches, such as a piercing punch 36, above and axially aligned with the pot. Thus, in the use of the press of FIGS. 7 to 9, a blocking punch, such as the punch 35 shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, would have been first mounted on the means 28 for use in blocking a billet 40A received by the pot 40 into the shape shown in FIG. 7. Then, of course, the blocking punch would have been removed and replaced by the piercing punch for use in the piercing operation illustrated in connection with FIGS. 7 and 8.

As in the case of the pot 27, the pot 40 includes an annular body 41 which is open at each end and supported on the fixed platen 23 for reciprocation between a lower retracted position (not shown) and an upper extended position, as shown in each of FIGS. 7 to 9. Body 41 of the pot is caused to move between these positions by a plurality of hydraulic piston-type actuators 42 supported about the pot on the lower fixed platen 23. Thus, as in the case of the actuators 31, the piston of each actuator 42 is mounted on the fixed platen, and the cylinder thereof is connected by an arm to the outer side of the body 41. However, for reasons to be noted below, the actuators 42 are of shorter stroke than the actuators 31.

As in the case of the first embodiment, an annular pedestal 43 is supported on the fixed platen 23 and surrounds a plunger 44'disposed coaxially of the cylindrical body. Similarly to the plunger 33, plunger 44 is supported at its lower end on the platen 23 and is of substantially the same diameter as the enlarged lower end of the piercing punch 36. Also, a plug 45 closely surrounds plunger 44 and is normally mounted on the upper end of the pedestal 43 with its upper side on the same horizontal plane as the upper end of the plunger, whereby the plunger and plug form a base for the billet during blocking and punching.

As will be appreciated from FIGS. 7 to 9, upon retraction of the actuators 42 so as to retract the pot body 41, the upper edge of such pot will be on substantially the same level as the base formed by the plunger and plug, so as to facilitate installation, removal and upsetting of a billet on the base, as previously described in connection with FIGS. 1 to 6. Of course, when these actuators are extended to raise the body 41 to the position shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the body surrounds the billet 40A as the billet is blocked and pierced.

However, as distinguished from the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 6, the plug 45 is raised from its normal position of FIG. 7 to the position of FIG. 9 for the shearing operation, and this is done by means independent of the actuators 42, whereby the only function of the actuators is to raise and lower the pot body. Thus, as shown, the inner diameter of the pedestal 43 forms an annular chamber with the outer diameter of the plunger 44, and the lower end of the plug is provided with a piston having inner and outer seal rings 46 for sealably sliding within the chamber, whereby the plug may be raised to the position of FIG. 9 upon application of hydraulic fluid to the lower end of the piston.

Thus, upon lowering of the movable platen 24 so as to cause the piercing punch 36 to pierce the blocked billet to a desired depth, as shown in FIG. 8, further piercing is discontinued, and hydraulic fluid is supplied to the cylinder beneath the plug piston so as to raise the plug and thus shear the portion 47 of the pierced billet between the end of the piercing punch and the plunger 44. At this time, hydraulic fluid within the cylinder beneath the plug piston may be relieved, so as to lower the plug to its position supported on the pedestal 43, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The actuators 42 may then be retracted so as to lower the pot body to its retracted position, and thereby lower the upper end of the body to substantially the same level as the base of the pot provided by the plunger and upper end of the plug, thereby facilitating removal of the fully pierced billet and the portion 47 removed therefrom.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it

is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed l. A press, comprising first and second platens, one movable relatively toward and away from the other, a pot having an open end and a closed base and supported on the first platen with its open end facing the second platen, a punch adapted to be supported on the second platen for movement into the pot so as to pierce a billet therein upon relative movement of said one platen toward the other, the base of said pot including a plunger aligned with the punch, and a plug surrounding the plunger and movable with respect thereto in a direction toward the open end of the pot, and means for moving said plug in said direction and about the lower end of the punch, when said punch has reached a predetermined position in said pot, so as to shear the portion of the pierced billet held between the punch and plunger.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for moving said plug comprises means forming an annular chamber about the plunger, and an annular piston on the plug sealably slidable within the chamber.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for moving the plug comprises a plurality of reciprocable actuators arranged about the pot and connected between the first platen and the pot, and means on the pot supporting the plug for movement therewith in said direction.

4. A press, comprising first and second platens, one movable relatively toward and away from the other, a pot including an open-ended body supported on the first platen with one open end facing the second platen and reciprocable with respect to said first platen between an extended position for surrounding a billet and a retracted position to facilitate installation and removal of the billet, and a closed base within the body opposite the one open end thereof to support the billet, a plurality of piston-type actuators arranged about the pot and connected between the first platen and the body of the pot for moving said body between said positions, a punch adapted to be supported on the second platen for movement into the pot, so as to pierce the billet upon relative movement of said one platen toward the other, said base of the pot including a plunger aligned with the punch, and a plug surrounding the plunger and movable with respect thereto in a direction toward the open end of the pot, and means for moving said plug in said direction and about the lower end of the punch, when said punch has reached a predetermined position in said pot, so as to shear the portion of the pierced billet held between the punch and plunger.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the body is also movable by said actuators between said extended position and a further extended position, and the means for moving the plug includes means on said body of the pot for engaging and moving the plug during movement of said body to further extended position.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the means for moving the plug comprises means forming an annular chamber about the plunger, and an annular piston on the plug sealably slidable within the chamber. 

1. A press, comprising first and second platens, one movable relatively toward and away from the other, a pot having an open end and a closed base and supported on the first platen with its open end facing the second platen, a punch adapted to be supported on the second platen for movement into the pot so as to pierce a billet therein upon relative movement of said one platen toward the other, the base of said pot including a plunger aligned with the punch, and a plug surrounding the plunger and movable with respect thereto in a direction toward the open end of the pot, and means for moving said plug in said direction and about the lower end of the punch, when said punch has reached a predetermined position in said pot, so as to shear the portion of the pierced billet held between the punch and plunger.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for moving said plug comprises means forming an annular chamber about the plunger, and an annular piston on the plug sealably slidable within the chamber.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means for moving the plug comprises a plurality of reciprocable actuators arranged about the pot and connected between the first platen and the pot, and means on the pot supporting the plug for movement therewith in said direction.
 4. A press, comprising first and second platens, one movable relatively toward and away from the other, a pot including an open-ended body supported on the first platen with one open end facing the second platen and reciprocable with respect to said first platen between an extended position for surrounding a billet and a retracted position to facilitate installation and removal of the billet, and a closed base within the body opposite the one open end thereof to support the billet, a plurality of piston-type actuators arranged about the pot and connected between the first platen and the body of the pot for moving said body between said positions, a punch adapted to be supported on the second platen for movement into the pot, so as to pierce the billet upon relative movement of said one platen toward the other, said base of the pot including a plunger aliGned with the punch, and a plug surrounding the plunger and movable with respect thereto in a direction toward the open end of the pot, and means for moving said plug in said direction and about the lower end of the punch, when said punch has reached a predetermined position in said pot, so as to shear the portion of the pierced billet held between the punch and plunger.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the body is also movable by said actuators between said extended position and a further extended position, and the means for moving the plug includes means on said body of the pot for engaging and moving the plug during movement of said body to further extended position.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the means for moving the plug comprises means forming an annular chamber about the plunger, and an annular piston on the plug sealably slidable within the chamber. 